Food Business Waste and Animal By-Products: Which Leftovers Can Go to Landfill, Which Can Become Animal Feed and Why Catering Waste Never Can

A shop, cafe or food factory that throws food away is also handling a regulated material, because food of animal origin that is no longer meant for people becomes an animal by-product (ABP). This guide summarises two GOV.UK guidance pages, one on how food businesses must dispose of food and former foodstuffs and one on ABP categories, site approval, hygiene and disposal, the second updated on 7 January 2026. The guidance refers to Environment Agency permits, so it describes the position in England. It is general information, not a compliance audit.

When food becomes an animal by-product

GOV.UK says foods of animal origin intended for people may be removed from sale when they pass a sell-by or use-by date, are visually imperfect or have damaged packaging, or are spoiled, mouldy or decomposing. At the point the site manager decides the item is no longer intended for human consumption it becomes an ABP, and the guidance says this decision cannot be reversed. All such former foodstuffs are category 3 ABPs, the low-risk category, but they are divided into three groups according to how they may be disposed of.

Higher, medium and lower risk former foodstuffs

The guidance sets out the groups:

• Higher risk items cannot go to landfill or farm animal feed. They include raw meat, fish and seafood, raw sausages and bacon, raw burgers, raw eggs including shells, untreated milk, partially cooked meat and cured meats such as salami. Packaging follows the same rules, and the products must not be cooked to change their status.
• Medium risk items can go to landfill but not farm animal feed. They include fully pre-cooked meat and fish products, ready meals, pies and pizza with pre-cooked meat, and fats or dripping from cooking meat.
• Lower risk items can go to landfill or be used to make farm animal feed: bakery and confectionery products without meat, fish or shellfish, milk or milk products, egg or egg products, and animal fats and fish oils.

Catering waste and the ban on animal feed

GOV.UK defines catering waste as any waste food, including used cooking oil, from restaurants, catering sites, and commercial or household kitchens. A cafe or restaurant on a site, or sandwiches made in store, produce catering waste. International catering waste, from international transport vehicles, is a category 1 ABP; otherwise catering waste is category 3 if it goes to a compost or biogas facility or other processor, and it may go to landfill provided the site is licensed or permitted by the Environment Agency.

The guidance is emphatic that catering waste must never be sent to be used as farm animal feed or pet food, including processed catering waste known as swill. It says the ban exists to stop the spread of notifiable animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease, classical swine fever and avian influenza. Used cooking oil has its own disposal issues, covered in the guide to waste cooking oil.

Keeping streams apart

Low-risk former foodstuffs can go for use in farm animal feed, but GOV.UK says they must be kept separate from catering waste and from any medium or high risk former foodstuffs at all stages, from the shelf to the collection bins. For surplus bakery goods, it suggests sealed colour-coded clear bags or boxes of a different colour from other food waste, dedicated roll cages, and checks at a returns depot for meat, fish or shellfish. A business choosing a collector should ask how separated streams are collected, as discussed in the guide to business food-waste collections.

The 20kg weekly landfill allowance

For landfill, GOV.UK says a business sending medium and low risk foodstuffs or non-ABP food to landfill must have a system that excludes raw meat, raw fish and high-risk foodstuffs, and that factories must separate production lines carrying raw and cooked products. Retailers, distributors and manufacturers may send up to 20kg of raw or partially cooked meat, fish or shellfish products to landfill each week. A retail business producing under 20kg a week of such waste does not need to register with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) but must keep records of the type and approximate weight sent to landfill each week.

Approvals, registration and hauliers

Under the ABP guidance, sites that use ABPs generally need approval from, or registration with, APHA. Approval is needed for sites such as processing plants and commercial compost or biogas sites. Registration, by posting form AB117 to APHA, is needed for categories including landfill sites and a haulier or transporter who does not work for an APHA-approved site or a Food Standards Agency approved food or feed business. The Environment Agency’s separate waste carrier registration is explained in the guide to waste carrier licences, and the paperwork a business should keep is in the guide to waste transfer notes.

FAQs

Can restaurant leftovers be fed to pigs?

No. GOV.UK says catering waste must never be used as farm animal feed or pet food, including processed catering waste known as swill.

Do I need to register with APHA to send small amounts of raw meat to landfill?

A retail business producing less than 20kg a week does not need to register, but GOV.UK says it must keep weekly records of the type and approximate weight.

The bottom line

Food of animal origin that is no longer intended for people becomes an animal by-product, and GOV.UK divides former foodstuffs into higher, medium and lower risk groups that decide whether landfill or animal feed is allowed. Catering waste can never become animal feed or pet food, retailers can send up to 20kg of raw or partially cooked meat, fish or shellfish to landfill per week with records, and some sites and hauliers must register with APHA. This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

This guide draws on the following primary sources, current as of 9 October 2026:

• How food businesses must dispose of food and former foodstuffs (gov.uk)
• Animal by-product categories, site approval, hygiene and disposal, updated 7 January 2026 (gov.uk)

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